Carpet-stretcher



(No Model.)

S. MERCHANT.

' V CARPET STRETOHER. I No. 301,740. Patented July 8, 1884.

-W!TNEE5EE INVENTOR- I; x W

UNITED STATES SHELDON MERCHANT, OF HOBART, NEXV YORK.

CARPET-STRETCH ER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 301.7%0, dated July 8,1884-.

Application filed April 28, 1884.

I59 etZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, SHELDON MnRoHAn'r, a citizen of the United States,residing at Hobart, in the'county of Delaware and State of New York,have invented new and useful Improvernents in Carpet- Stretchers, ofwhich the following is a specification.

My invention consists of improvements in the construction andarrangements of astretcher, consisting of a frame adapted to rest on thecarpet, and having an anchorspike for driving into the floor at thebaseboard, for holding it, and also having a Windlass, straps, and ahook-bar for drawing up the carpet, the said improvements being designedto adapt the machine for more eflicient action, and so as to enable thecarpet to be more conveniently handled, as hereinafter fully described,reference being made to the accompanying drawing, which representsmyimprovcd carpetstretcher in perspective View and in position for useon a carpetto be stretched.

I make a small rectangular frame, of wood or metal, as may be preferred,consisting of two side pieces, a, and two cross-bars, Z) and c, the sidepieces being setup edgewise on the cross-bars, and connected to themflush with the lower sides. The cross-bar b has a rod, cl, connected toit at the middle, or thereabont, and extendinghorizontally a shortdistance therefrom, andicrminating in a spike, e, snitably arranged tobe readily driven in the floorf at the angle between said floor and thebase-horr d 5 for anchoring the machine to enable it to draw the carpet72 for which I mount a roller, i, on journals j in suitable bearings ofthe side pieces, a, a little back of the cross-piece b, and connectahook-bar, k, to said roller by straps Z, to be drawn toward thebase-board y by turning the roller and winding up the straps on it, saidhook-bar being provided with suitable hooks, m, for engaging the carpet,and being arranged parallel to the end bars, and extending under andbeyond the side pieces, a, to draw the carpet along under them, and alsoto be pressed down and kept in connection with the carpet by thedownward pressure resulting from the stress of the roller located higherthan the plane of the spikes hold in the floor and the (No model.)

hold of the hooks in the carpet; or the frame may be pressed down byhand to hold the hookbar down, if preferred. The essential object of.the arrangement of the hook-bar under the frame is to enable the carpetto be drawn closer to the base 9 than it can be with the hook bararranged back of the frame. For turning the roller 2', I make a seriesof holes, it, in it cireumferentially at'the middle, for inserting aleverhandle, 0, to be shifted from one hole to another, to turn theroller by successive movements, and I arrange a slide-bolt, p, inasnitable keeper, q, on the cross-bar b, so that it may be shifted intoand out of the same holes, for a means of retaining the rolier againstthe stress oi'the carpet while shifting the handle. The roller 1 isarranged low down in the frame, as it can thus be well made to operate,in order that, with the direct arrangement of the straps from the rollerto the hook-bar. the stress will be very nearly in the plane of thecarpet, by which the machine operates better than if so connected withthe roller located higher up, and it makes the machine simpler than withguide-rollers for changing the direction of the straps from the plane ofthe carpet to a roller in a higher position. I construct the roller 23with collars s, between which the straps coil on the roller to beproperly cont-rolled laterally.

It will be seen that, besides the simplicity of the construction andcheapness of the cost of my machine, it possesses two essential qualities of importance in a carpet-stretcher viz., the contrivance of theroller-straps and hookbar to draw the carpet well along under the frameand up to the base-board, and the arrangement for space between the endbar, 2), and the base-board g, in which the edge of the carpet may behandled to adjust and tack it while held by the stretcher.

What I claim, and dcsi re to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The combination, in a carpet-stretcher, of roller 2 straps Z,hook-bar 7. and an anchorspike, c, said roller being mounted in asupporting-frame arranged to rest on the hookbar, and the hook-barextended under and beyond the side bars of the frame, substantially asdescribed.

rod, d, extended bcyondthe frame, for maintaining free space between theframe and the base-board to facilitate the adj listing and tackingof thecarpet between the machine and the said base, substantially as hereinset forth.

In witness whereof I have hereunto signed my name in the presence of twosubscribing 20 witnesses.

SHELDON MERCHANT.

lVitnesses:

H. HANFORD, LEVANDER Hacnn.

It is hereby certified that in Letters Patent N 0. 301,740, granted July 8, 1884 upon I the application of Sheldon Merchant, of Hobart, NewYork, for an improvement in OarpetSt-retchers, errors appear in theprinted specification requiring correction, as follows: In line 10, page2, the commas should be omitted; in line 12, same page, the v word andshould rezul of and that the Letters Patent should be read with thesecorrections therein to make it conform to the record of the case in thePatent Office.

Signed, countersigned, and sealed this 22d day of July, A. D. 1884.

M. L. J OSLYN Acting Secretary of the Interior.

[SEAL] Countersigned BENJ. BUTTERWORTH,

Commissioner of Patents.

